Let the Party Games Begin!
Clever party games for families and friends
excerpted from Clever Party Planning
by Suzanne Singleton
Games are appealing to all ages. They provide ways to break the ice, reasons to laugh, and playful
recreation! There are lots of benefits to game playing, too . . . to unite or relax a group, to aid in
social development of children, to teach graceful winning, losing and fair play, and how to follow
rules. Games can also challenge our brains and bodies. For children, they provide a good method
of boosting self-confidence.
Game playing should be creative as well as entertaining. It’s fun to make up games and rules!
Children do it all the time in their normal course of play and make believe. Games also can be
altered to fit the group, space, age, time or theme of a party.
Big kid and author Suzanne Singleton shares party games from her book, Clever Party Planning.
Included here are games of action, skill and thought, games for small and big kids, contests, relay
races and water games.
These two points you already know, but they remain gentle reminders:
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At a child’s birthday party, never force a child to participate in a game. Some children are
more comfortable as observers. You may want to allow them to be a timekeeper, judge,
referee or question leader to keep them involved with the group.
“Winning” and “losing” games are not recommended for younger children because they
can invite tears. Let everyone participate in every game. Try not to play games that make
kids sit out.
Action Games
Follow that Picture
With safety pins, secure white pieces of drawing paper to every person’s back and give everyone a
bright colored crayon or marker. Line up the party guests. Someone leads the group around the
room or yard (also with a piece of paper on her back), while everyone tries to draw a picture on the
paper in front of them. It takes coordination to follow the leader and draw at the same time! This is
a guaranteed giggler for any age.
Rainbow Race
Cut out large circles of various colors of construction paper. Give two to each participant. Kids
must use the circles to “walk” from start to finish by placing one circle on the floor, stepping on it
with one foot, then placing the other circle on the floor and stepping on that with the other foot.
They pick up the first circle and place it on the floor again, step, pick up the other, etc., thus
“walking” their way to the finish line on the circles.
Balloon People Squirt-Off
Cut out foot shapes from pieces of sturdy cardboard (see illustration). Slide the
knot of an inflated balloon into slits cut into the cardboard so that balloons
stand up. Let guests decorate the balloons with shaving cream or whipped
cream. Give each person a heavy duty water pistol and have a race to see who
can squirt off the cream first!
Pile Up
Using toy cardboard blocks that resemble bricks, make a small wall of two or three high. The kids
line up and take turns jumping over. Then add more bricks to the pile; the kids jump over. For
each “round,” add to the height; the kids must jump over at each height without knocking down
the wall.
Relay Races
Toilet Paper Turmoil
Played in teams, the line leader holds a pencil placed through a roll of white toilet paper (the
pencil allows it to roll easily) while the first team member takes the end of the toilet paper and
carefully moves through an obstacle course. The object is not to break the ream of paper. Set up a
simple course: walking over a chair, crawling under the kitchen table, circling twice around a
column, crawling across the sofa, and going back to the starting line.
Bucket Brigade
Provide each team with a small cup (5 oz. or so) and two buckets (one full of water, one empty).
Team members scoop up a cup of water from one bucket, run a few yards to the empty bucket,
dump in the water, pass the cup, then returns to the back of the line. The next team member does
the same, then the next and next. The winning team is the first who fills up the empty bucket with
water.
Horsing Around
Have a horse relay using stick horses. Teams gallop from the “starting
gate” to the “finish line” and back again, handing off the stick horse
and a jersey to the next participant. (Make rectangular jerseys out of
silky and colorful fabric with a head hole cut out in the center.) The
team who finishes first wins.
Peanut Push
Set up a relay race where guests must push peanuts to the finish line using only their noses. (Play
this game on a carpet to make it easier to crawl.)
Winter Clothes Rush
Provide two piles of winter clothes and two teams. The first person on each team runs to one pile
and dresses in all of the clothes as quickly as possible. He then takes off the clothes, leaves them in
a pile and runs to the back of the line. The second person runs to the pile of clothes, begins
dressing, etc. Each team member has to dress and undress, and the first team finished wins.
Provide winter clothes such as scarves, large boots, ski pants, coats, mittens, hats, and sweaters.
Play upbeat and fast music during this game.
Skillful Games
Sweet Fishing
Place plastic zipper sandwich bags filled with candy in an empty
wading pool. Tie a ribbon on each bag to snag it. Make a few
fishing poles out of dowel rods, nylon thread, and an open paper
clip with a weight. Kids take turns fishing for a sweet treat!
Animal Bowling
Set up 10 stuffed animals in a bowling pin configuration (4 in the back row, then 3, then 2, then 1
in the front row). To win, kids must get a spare or a strike when rolling a ball toward the animals.
Make a starting line on the grass or sidewalk with masking tape.
Song Scramble
Write each word of a song (like Happy Birthday or another familiar tune) on separate index cards.
Make two sets. Place the cards out of order on a table. Kids line up in two teams and take turns
moving one index card at a time until the words of the song are in order. The winning team is the
first who puts the song together.
The Black Hole
Use a large plastic container with a lid (like a gallon ice cream
bucket or giant size margarine container) and fill it with a
bunch of small items such as a comb, miniature doll, marble,
battery, troll, ball, etc. Cover the container in black
construction paper. Cut a hole in the top of the lid, big enough
for little hands to fit in, but cover the hole with a piece of
slitted felt. Taking turns, instruct each kid to find a specific
item in “The Black Hole” without looking inside. Replace the
item after each turn.
Just For Fun Games
Gold Diggers
Set up a large basin with sand on the bottom and fill it halfway with water. Bury a bunch of
pennies in the sand. Provide plastic sifters. When the sand and water sift through, the pennies will
remain in the sifter and the kids think they have struck it rich! Provide a gold spray painted yogurt
container or toy treasure boxes for them to collect their “gold.”
Sandy Fun
Fill a giant cooler or other container with sand. Bury small
trinkets such as marbles, necklaces, plastic toys, party favors
and wrapped candy. Let kids take turns digging for trinkets.
Time each dig for a minute long, or limit the number of
items each child is allowed to remove from the sand. Provide
small loot bags for their findings. Variation: hide trinkets
and toys in a pile of hay.
Game Night
Dust off your favorite board games and let the laughter roll! There are a slew of silly and
entertaining board games on the market. Friends in the group can take turns hosting “game night”
once a month. Make it a “no fuss” party by requiring that “admission” is to bring one easy snack:
chip and dip, baked pretzels, veggies and dip, nachos and salsa, peanuts, etc.
Thinking Games
Who Am I?
Kids sit in a circle. Glue pictures and names of different cartoon characters on index cards. One
child picks a card, and the others try to guess the character, taking turns asking yes and no
questions (Does he wear a cape? Is it a boy? Does she have blond hair?) Or, safety pin the pictures
to each guest’s back. The kids have to ask each other yes or no questions during the party to figure
out what character is stuck on them. You can vary this game using different groups of magazine
pictures such as food, animals, or people.
ABC Bug Hunt
In an alphabetical format, the first person in the circle says, “I went on a bug hunt and I found an
Ant.” The next person in the circle says, “I went on a bug hunt and I found an Ant and a Beetle.”
The third kid says, “I went on a bug hunt and I found an Ant, a Beetle and a Cricket.” Use each
letter of the alphabet, reciting every bug named each time around. This is a good memory test and
a bit challenging! In case you need help . . .
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A - ant, aphid
B - beetle, bee, bedbug, black widow
C - cricket, carpenter ant, centipede
D - damsel fly, daddy long leg
E - earwig
F - fly, firefly, flea
G - grasshopper
H - honeybee, hornet, horsefly
I - insect, ice bug
J - Jerusalem cricket, June beetle
K - katydid
L - lightening bug, ladybug, locust
M - mosquito, moth, maggot
N - nymph
O - oil beetle
P - praying mantis
Q - queen bee
R - roach
S - spider, silkworm, stick insect
T - termite, tick, tarantula
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U - ugly bug
V - vespoid wasp
W - wasp, worm, weevil
X - xyelid sawflies
Y - yellow jacket
Z - zootermopsis (termite)
Water Games
Water Balloon Pass
Place guests in a large circle. Poke a pinhole in a balloon
filled with water and pass it around quickly. The object of
the game is not to be the one holding the balloon when all
the water has leaked out.
Water Baseball
Fill lots of water balloons, and use a plastic bat to play a
game of water baseball!
Wet Feet
Guests sit on chairs around a water-filled wading pool. On the count of 1-2-3-GO!, dump a bunch
of floating toys (like rubber ducks and frogs) into the pool. Everyone tries to remove the toys with
their feet to see how many they can collect in a certain time frame.
Watermelon Polo
This is played in the deep end of a swimming pool. Divide the group into two teams. Throw a
watermelon into the pool (it will float). Throw, pass, give, hand, dive, or toss the watermelon to
other team members to try to get it past the “goal” of the other team. The team wins who is
successful at getting the watermelon to sit on the ledge at the other side of the pool. This is
hysterical and a very challenging game, recommended for adults.
Games for Tykes
Noah’s Search
Assign animal names to each child, using two of each animal. At
the start of the game, everyone imitates their assigned animal’s
sound as they prowl around the area. Each kid has to find the
partner who is making the same animal sound. Once they do, they
sit down to indicate they are finished.
Stone Face
One person must keep a straight face while another tries to make him/her laugh. Variation: stare at
each other for one minute without cracking a smile.
Safari Egg Hunt
Before the party, make a batch of plastic eggs with the name of an animal written in marker on
each egg. (Or, draw stripes, spots, etc.) For instance, make a batch of “zebra” eggs, a batch of
“leopard” eggs, and a batch of “tiger” eggs. Fill the eggs with animal crackers or candy and tape
them shut. Team One must find all of the zebra eggs. Team Two must find all of the leopard eggs,
and Team Three must find all of the tiger eggs. The eggs are then divided among the kids to take
home.
Cute Contests
Talented Tootsies
Have a contest to see who can draw the best picture on paper with their toes. You can add to the
silliness of this game by blindfolding people.
Sniff and Name
Blindfold each participant and have her name the item or food being placed under her nose. Use
items such as chocolate, vanilla extract, a flower, toothpaste, peanut butter, shampoo - things with
distinctive odors.
Heel, Boy!
Have relay races in high heeled shoes . . . men only, of course!
Messy Make-up
Have races where partners apply make-up to each other in a limited time. The best makeup job
wins! This game is more amusing if the guys apply the make-up to the girls.
Candy Contest
Hand out a piece of “Warhead™” candy to each guest. Guests suck the candy while trying not to
make a face (this candy is extremely sour). The winner is the person who does not crack an
expression while eating the candy.
Frozen T-Shirt Contest
A few days before the party, roll or fold a few wet T-shirts and put them in the freezer. Teams
must undo the T-shirt by whatever means necessary. The first team to have a member wear the
shirt wins.
Lip Smackin’ Competition
Give the ladies a small piece of paper and a tube of bright lipstick. Each has to kiss the paper,
leaving the best lip print possible. Then they must name their kisses, like “Luscious Lips” or “Kiss
Me Baby.” Ask the men to judge the lip prints by selecting the best pair of lips, prettiest, sexiest,
etc.
Slipper Parade
This is a cute pajama party game. Prompt guests to bring a pair of slippers for this contest. Each
guest models a pair of slippers for the judges. Select the ugliest, oldest, cutest, prettiest, and
funniest. Adult version - judge the cutest, ugliest, prettiest, biggest, and funniest feet and toes!
Taboo!
Pass out three plastic Hawaiian leis to each person. Select a taboo word relating to the evening
(like drink). Any time someone says this word to another in conversation, a lei is taken from the
guest who said it. The person with the most leis at the end of the party wins a prize. (You can
substitute the lei for something else like clothespins.)